At just 23, the two-time Grammy Award-winning American jazz singer has become an icon for her performances on social media platforms like TikTok. She has one of the best-selling jazz albums of 2022.
The very young American jazz singer Samara Joy, who won two Grammy Awards in February, including Revelation of the Year, will receive the Jazz Academy’s Vocal Jazz Award in Paris on Sunday. The 23-year-old African-American singer is scheduled to give two performances in the Paris suburbs of Meudon and Vincennes on the weekend of Wednesday and Saturday.
She will also be taking part in several French events this summer, including Jazz in Marciac on July 27. A new sensation in the world of vocal jazz, Samara Joy released her album 2nd, Linger Awhile in October, distributed by Verve. Verve, on which she sublimates standards such as Misty, Round Midnight and Someone to listen to.
“This second album confirms all the good things we think of her,” declared François Lacharme, director of the Académie du jazz. “She has incredible ability and a wide range of skills, and according to her, the difficult intervals are like a race without obstacles,” said Lacharme, who sees her as “a candidate for the throne. “
Samara Joy offers the most beautiful of three worlds. You have a hint of Betty’s timbre as a child and a certain ease and wonder, an immense vocal flexibility that has more than an Ella Fitzgerald influence, and the ability to bend her voice, and be extremely playful with melody, reminiscent of Sarah Vaughan.
François Lacharme, President of the Académie du Jazz.Académie du Jazz to AFP
The young woman grew up in the Bronx, New York, in a family of gospel and soul singers. ” She listened to music, and you can listen to her in gospel and blues, rhythm ‘n’ blues, soul music”, analyzes François Lacharme.
Samara Joy, who won the Grammy for Best Sung Jazz Album for Linger Awhile and was a prizewinner in the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition, completed her studies at Fordham High School for the Arts and Purchase College, New York University. After graduating, she became a celebrity for her musical performances on social media platforms, including TikTok. She has performed in Europe and the United States, including at the Monterey Jazz Festival.